Heather Neuwirth returned to
Middlebury in 2011 to work at the college
and today serves as the director of programs at the school’s Center for Creativity,
Innovation, and Social Entrepreneurship.

The center provides resources for students
in the areas of funding, space, and mentor-ship, and Neuwirth, 32, is particularly passionate about helping young people remain
in Vermont after graduation and seize the
advantages the state has to offer.

VL: Can you describe how the centerworks?

HN: We have a suite of 16 programs.

The programs expose students to creative
skills and mindsets, and a few of the programs also have them work through the
process of building up an enterprise or a
social enterprise. Students can get credit
for an idea through coursework, or they
can find the resources they need to take
their ideas to the next level. Or if they’re
interested, they can be student leaders in
a lot of our programs. Even if you do not
self-identify as an entrepreneur, there are
still plenty of opportunities to get involved
with the programs we run.

VL: How does Middlebury College fitinto Vermont’s landscape of innovationand entrepreneurship?

HN: We are geographically in a fairlyrural county, but we’re only an hour awayfrom Burlington, and with the amount ofsupport and startups located in our county,Vermont; we highlight those opportunitiesfor our students because they’re not neces-sarily obvious.

VL: What brought you back to Vermont?

HN: This job. Like a lot of people who
graduated in 2008, I spent a lot of time
after my undergrad doing temporary
interim positions, moving around, trying to
figure things out. I was working at a nonprofit in Rhode Island and, through several
coincidences, found out about the Center
for Social Entrepreneurship [later merged
into the current center] that was opening
at Middlebury College. A lot of my peers
thought I was crazy to move to Vermont.

They were asking me what I was going todo up here. I was so pleasantly surprised bythe community of young professionals thatsticks together and supports eachother up here. I felt moreimmediately tied into myMiddlebury commu-nity after a few weeksthan I did after livingfor a year in RhodeIsland or living in myhometown outsideof Milwaukeeafter college. Thecloseness is notfor everyone,but I love goingto the postoffice and grocery store and knowing halfof the people I see.

VL: Where do your students go aftergraduation?

HN: One of our program goals is to try
to convince young people that Vermont is
a great place to live. We’re not just keeping students in Middlebury; they’re feeling
really comfortable going beyond to Burlington and elsewhere in Vermont. It’s really
powerful to see students’ inclination to say,
“Hey, living in Vermont is an option.” And
I have seen that young people who really
love the values and sense of community in
Vermont care a lot about cultivating young
professional networks so that more young
people want to stick around.

VL: Do you have any advice for buddingstudent entrepreneurs?

HN: The day-to-day may not be perfectlytied up in a bow. The process is messy. Butlook around and you’ll see people 10, 20years older than you who are taking a riskand trying something new. You can plug inand be an intern with them, or applyto work with them on breaksor after graduation. Or youcan start your own thing.There are resources avail-able in Vermont, whether it’sthrough incubators or funds.VL: What do you do forfun?HN: I hike every minutethat I can. I also like totry different restaurants,and any new breweries orcideries that open up.We also have events atMiddlebury that bringin people I find sointeresting thatI think I wouldattend even if itwasn’t part ofmy job. I feellike I must bedoing somethingright when workdoesn’t feel likework. Axtne